Priestess
by Ryuuza
Summary: The Fushigi Yuugi English manga...novel form! [Part 1] Miaka and Yui enter the book.


**Fushigi Yuugi: Priestess**

_Disclaimer_: Fushigi Yuugi and all of its characters are owned by Yu Watase.

This is the spoiler of all spoilers.  This is the retelling of the manga, minus only the beautiful artistry of Yuu Watase.  If you haven't read this series and don't want to spoil it for yourself, then, naturally, I'd suggest you don't read this fic.

A/N: I took the liberty of giving some of the characters last names or just names in general, since they're not mentioned in the manga.  Those characters are marked with an (*) asterisk.

--

Background info (taken from the first FY manga): The story of _Fushigi Yuugi_ (The Mysterious Play) takes place in two different worlds—present-day Japan and a version of ancient China that can be found in the romantic Chinese epics.

The main character of our story, Miaka [Yuuki, a fifteen-year-old girl], is a high school student who, like every other Japanese student her age, must pass a difficult test to enter the school of her choice. (The last year of junior high equals freshman year in high school in America.  Japanese high schools only have 3 years and all prospective students are required to take an entrance exam.)  The better a reputation the school has, the harder the entrance exam.  For that purpose, students in their third and final year of junior high become very serious about their studies and not only engulf themselves in their school work, but also go to evening "cram schools" where they take even more classes directed at passing their examinations.

The fantasy world of the book, _The Universe of the Four Gods_, is based on classics of Chinese literature such as _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ and many other tales of adventure and magic written nearly two thousands years ago.  It is an age where warring states vie for control of the most advanced civilization of the ancient world [China (aha, Azn pride!)], and young emperors have inherited regimes that have been passed down from their forefathers in an unbroken line spanning thousands of years.  It is a world of beauty and danger, and to enter, you have but to turn the page… [or scroll down, as the case may be ^_^]

--

_"He was just a dream."_

**Chapter 1**: The Young Lady of Legends

_Part 1_

"Wow, I don't believe it."  Miaka Yuuki's golden brown eyes sparkled in anticipation.  She swept a hungry gaze at the numerous plates of succulent food in front of her.  "All my favorites!"

_Yum_, she thought happily, bringing her chopsticks down toward a bowl of teriyaki chicken.  As she watched, the bowl faded away.  "Huh?"  She blinked and the bowl came back into view.  "What the—"

"Give up, Miaka Yuuki," a cold voice mocked her.  Her eyes flew open.  "Eating is a waste of energy for students studying for their high school entrance exams."  It laughed cruelly.  "You must only study!"

A little suspicious, a little scared, and a lot indignant, Miaka whirled around to confront the voice.  Her jaw dropped as she encountered the leering faces of her teachers.  

"Now you must study!" ordered Mr. Tamisoka, her History teacher, bearing down on her with the textbook in hand.

"Recite all the math formulas," Mr. Suzuki* demanded, also advancing on her.

"List every single English word starting with 'a'!"  Miaka backed away slowly from Mr. Satoshi*.

"Answer, Yuuki," they all bellowed, their hands reaching for her, as if trying to grab her replies from her.  Miaka stared at them, trying to find the words.

"G…GIMME BACK MY FOOD!!" she finally yelled, clenching her fists in anger.  It wasn't fair!  They couldn't lay such a beautiful spread of food out in front of her and then just take it away.  It was cruel.  "You awful ghosts," she shouted, her conclusion on their ethereal state based on the fact that she could see through them, "Gimme back my pizza, my noodles, my cake, and everything else!"  She began pummeling them with her fists in a vain attempt to force them to obey her.

"Miaka!"  This time, the voice belonged to a girl.  "That _was_ the teacher."

Miaka blinked.  She followed the voice and looked to her left.  A pretty girl with short blonde hair sat at the neighboring desk, giving her a worried look.  As her friend's words processed, Miaka exclaimed, "What!?"  She looked down at the ground.  Her teacher, Mr. Tamisoka, was lying at her feet, looking stunned and a little bruised.

"Well, whadda ya know…" said Miaka, smiling sheepishly in return to all the uneasy looks her classmates were giving her.  She looked up, surprised to find herself holding her desk above her head.  "A dream," she announced with a nervous smile as the bell rang.  She hurriedly set her desk back in its proper place.  _Boy am I out of here,_ she thought, grabbing her school things with the intent to dash out of the room.

"Yuuki," croaked Mr. Tamisoka, "I need to see you after class."

Dammit.

*

"Jeez, I got into trouble BIG time," grumbled Miaka later at the nearby McDonald's.  She and Yui Hongo, her best friend and the girl who had waken her up from her dream, had met up with two of their classmates after school for a snack.

"What'd you expect?" Yui asked reasonably.  "We've got entrance exams this spring, and you're drifting off in class."

Miaka spared her a glare and returned to her burger and fries.

"That's right," Fuu Tendo agreed, pushing her black bangs off her face as she sipped her soda.  "Aren't you trying to get into Yotsubadai High School?"  She sent a curious glance across the table at her friend.

"Umph, ah hawent toh anyun wet hut—" [Translation: I haven't told anyone yet but—]

The other girl at the both, a blonde named Morin Tokihato, rolled her eyes.  "Talk or eat!" she said in exasperation.  "Make up your mind!"

Miaka shook her head and gave up.  Food was more important than speaking.  As she chomped on her burger, she pointed a finger over Rumiko's shoulder.  The girls turned to look.  They saw two girls in a nearby booth, dressed in their school uniforms, enjoying an after school snack as well.

"The school that issues that uniform?" asked Fuu, her brow creased.

"That's Jonan High School!  The top school in the city!" cried Morin, her eyes widening in disbelief.

Shrugging, Miaka concentrated on her food.

"You and your GPA should have a meeting of the minds," Fuu commented dryly, clearly indicating that she thought Miaka's grades couldn't possibly live up to Jonan High School's expectations.  Miaka was hurt.  She knew she wasn't the brightest student in her class, but she tried, didn't she?  And she certainly wasn't the stupidest.  That dubious honor went to Ryoko Kou.  Her friends needn't make her goal sound so farfetched.  She could achieve it…couldn't she?

"Why didn't you tell Yui?" asked Morin, calming down a little.  "She's taking the exam for Jonan."

Of course she was.  If Miaka wasn't the smartest student in the class, it was because the role was already occupied by her best friend, Yui.  It wasn't as bad as it sometimes seemed; Yui was nice and comparing grades with Miaka wasn't her top priority, which made Miaka like her all the more.  Of course, it didn't hurt that they'd known each other since kindergarten.

"Well, no wonder," Yui was saying, rolling her celestial blue eyes.  "I'm the genius and she's the dunce."  _Obviously_, was implied by her expression.

Miaka glared at her.  "Are you REALLY my best friend!?" she demanded indignantly.  But she shrugged it off knowing that Yui was just teasing.  Besides, Miaka needed to be on her good side… "Hey Yui, I need to copy your notes from part of today's class that I slept through."  She smiled guiltily.

Yui rolled her eyes again but she nodded her agreement.  Then she glanced at her friend's tray.  "Miaka, aren't you going to eat anymore?" she asked.

"Nope," Miaka said cheerfully, everything in her world right now that she had taken care of the notes she needed for school—and her stomach was full of yummy food.  She gathered her books and jacket and announced, "Got cram school to attend!  I'm not hungry anyway!  You finish it off!"  She waved and left.

Morin raised an eyebrow.  "Not hungry?"  She glanced at the two cheeseburger wrappers, three-quarters gone fries, box of six chicken nuggets with one left, and the half-gone supersize soda.  "Shall we assess the damage?"

Fuu was still stunned about her friend's announcement about wanting to get into Jonan High School.  "But why is Miaka going for…" She trialed off, disturbed.  "She said she wanted to attend Yotsubadai High School with us."

--

"Chased by dozens of teachers in your dream?  What's that mean?"  Yui cast Miaka a confused glance as they sat in the City Central Library later that day.  They were both studying, Yui for her English test, and Miaka scrambling to finish her cram school homework before the class started in a half hour.

After a moment of anxious flipping through her book and scribbling down the answer, Miaka replied without looking up, "Lately I've staying up late studying…"

Yui was concerned.  "I know you're doing this for your mom, but you gotta take it easy," she warned.

Miaka looked up.  She sighed, wondering if she could explain her frantic need to get into Jonan High School.  Sometimes, she couldn't even explain it to herself.  "When she said, 'I can't wait to see you in the Jonan High School uniform,'" Miaka said, biting her lip, "I couldn't tell her that I wanted to go to Yotsubadai."

_There's no way I'll get into Jonan_, she thought to herself.  But she had to try.  For her mom.  Her hand dangling idly as she thought, her pencil dropped to the floor.  The sound jerked Miaka back to the present and she saw her pencil rolling away.  Dropping to her knees, she crawled after it.  _Gotcha!_ Then she looked up.  Right in front of her was a door with a large DO NOT ENTER sign posted on it.  Above it, another sign proclaimed that it was the Restricted Private Library.

The door was open.

Not much.  Perhaps as little as one inch.  But it sparked Miaka's insatiable curiosity.  Slowly, she got to her feet, gaze drawn to the beckoning darkness behind the partly-open door.

"Miaka, cram school will be starting soon." Yui said from behind her.

"What's this room doing here?" Miaka wondered out loud, not paying attention to her friend at all.  She brushed the dirt from her school uniform and began walking towards the door.  Slowly she eased the door creaking door open and stepped inside.

"Ah!" Yui yelped from behind her.  Miaka let out a shriek.  The room had begun to shake, the floor trembling beneath their feet.

_What the hell?  Am I going to die?  I have cram school tonight!  Oh…it's stopped…_  The shaking had indeed stopped.  Miaka let out a sigh of relief.

Yui was pressed up against the door, which had closed in the trembling.  She glanced around.  "Some kind of earthquake?" she murmured in confusion.

_Whud_.

Miaka whirled around.  A book had fallen to the ground.  She took a hesitant step toward it.

"Look at all these books," Yui said in awe, stepping into the room, her eyes wide as she took in the shelves that lined the walls.  "They look so pretty."  She grinned cheekily as an inappropriate thought crossed her mind.  "We could make a killing selling this stuff."

"Hey!  Look at this, Yui!"  Yui turned to find Miaka on the floor, gazing at a large, paper-bound, clearly old and fragile book in her hands.  She knelt down beside her friend and glanced at the cover of the book.  **The Universe of the Four Gods, Japanese Translation by Einosuke Okuda**

"The Universe of the Four Gods," Miaka read aloud.  Her brow furrowed.  "What the heck?"

"It looks like a Japanese translation of some Chinese legend."  Yui took the book from Miaka's hands and flipped it open, her eyes skimming over the words.

Miaka elbowed her over.  "Lemme see."

**::Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven Constellations of Suzaku together.::**

"What's a Suzaku?" whispered Miaka, not sure why she was whispering.

"I dunno, a sort of peacock, I guess," Yui replied in equally hushed tones.  She was referring the picture accompanying the text, a beautiful bird with long, trailing tailfeathers and an air of magnificence apparent even from the pages of a book.

**::And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish.::**

Miaka frowned.  "What's a Suzaku," she wanted to know.

"I dunno," Yuu repeated, shrugging.  She stared down at the fragile, yellowed pages of the book.  "This has gotta be some kind of spell book."

**::For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become reality.::**

"What's a Suzaku—"

"I don't know already!!" Yui finally exploded in exasperation.  "You deaf!?"

Rubbing her head where her friend had slapped her upside the head in annoyance, Miaka peered at the book again.  "So…So if you read it your wish comes true?"  Her eyes lit up at the possibilities.  "Sign me up!"

Yui wasn't nearly as gullible.  "Yeah right," she scoffed.  "And I'm the Pope in Rome."  She flipped the page, almost insolently.

Suddenly, the floor beneath gave a great shudder.  The bookshelves began to rattle, their contents falling from their home and flying around the two shocked, screaming girls.  There was a frightening rumble and another few crashes and shakes, then, as abruptly as it'd begun, the earthquake ended.

A lone book finished its journey to the floor. _Whud__._

Miaka opened her eyes cautiously, her hands still gripping her friend tightly.  As she took in the once-again calm, she let out a relieved sigh.  "Yui…"  She sat up slowly.  "It looks like it's over."

"Good!" exclaimed Yui, her face flushed with anxiety as she, too, looked up.  "I just hate earthquakes…"  Her voice trailed off as her mind processed the barren countryside before her.  What had been the tiled floor of the library's restricted room had suddenly become hard, pebbly earth.  Trees were scattered throughout an otherwise bare landscape and a lonely wind whistled through their branches.

"Where…are…we…?" whispered Miaka, her eyes wide.


End file.
